


minutes until midnight

by Gvi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi Keiji & Kozume Kenma Friendship, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Boys In Love, Fluff, Love, Love at First Sight, M/M, New Year's Eve, No Angst, Romantic Soulmates, Strangers to Lovers, Sweet, this is sweet don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28405530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gvi/pseuds/Gvi
Summary: || Kuroken soulmate au/oneshot where soulmates are connected by the red string of fate that only becomes visible when the two souls are near each other by a 30cm ratio.||
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96
Collections: My favorite haikyuu fics





	minutes until midnight

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm new to Ao3 and this is honestly the first normal oneshot I have ever written. I'm not the best at writing, but hopefully I will improve with time!  
> Now, I hope you will enjoy your read! It's pretty short and hopefully enjoyable!
> 
> More notes at the end

Have you ever heard of the 'red string of fate'? It's a magical thread that connects two stray, separated souls who become whole again upon meeting each other. They say that an old man who lives on the moon comes down to Earth every single night and searches for lost souls wandering around the globe. When he finds two souls that can learn something from one another, he connects their pinkies with an enchanting red string which means that they are destined to meet each other no matter what. How does it work? It's not false truth when they say the thread is magical. The thin string is tightly tied up around both of the souls' pinkies, it can stretch two times around the globe, it can get tangled in the worst way ever, but it can never be broken. Never. The two souls connected by the red string of fate are destined lovers. Regardless of their circumstances, they are soulmates that are bound to be together. 

"This is bullshit." Kenma groaned as he recalled snippets of the whole soulmates history he was taught back in middle school. It was still an early morning, but the sun rays were already finding their way through his bedroom windows' and making his sleepy eyes close up because of a sudden change of light quantity in his room. 

Back then Kenma was very keen on the idea of finding his soulmate. Just the thought of meeting his other half used to make him feel all tingly and excited inside ( no way would he admit it though ). A person who is capable of accepting and understanding him the way he is sounded very appealing as most of the time he was alone, living in his own world. But with age things changed. Kenma got tired of hearing others around him squeal out of happiness after finding their soulmate meanwhile he was still all alone; getting used to that wasn't that hard though. Seeing other people living his dream during their teenage years made him envious of them, but no way was he going to admit that to anyone. Only when his friend found his own soulmate, he admitted being jealous, but just to himself.

Either way, he was happy for him, Akaashi's soulmate was good for him.

After celebrating his 22nd birthday with his only two friends, Kenma wholeheartedly declared that having a soulmate was bullshit. So what that he saw real encounters of it? It was still bullshit. There was no way that some old geezer who lived on the moon decided who his soulmate was and connected them with some random string. And what's with the 30cm ratio rule? Kenma refused to get so close to people just in case a red thread connecting them shows up. It was stupid and impractical... Staying inside your room and playing video games brought way more comfort than a soulmate could ever bring. There was no way he could even fall for some random person just because of a string. 

A buzzing sound coming from the phone interupted Kenma's rant in his head, he had no choice but to look what it was, just that he wouldn't ignore something important.

**Akaashi: You coming today? ****  
**Kenma: Ye... When does it start? **  
**Akaashi: 8PM. Don't be late otherwise Bokuto is going to be sad. **  
**Kenma: yeah yeah. i'll try. ****************

Anyway, that was something only Kenma believed in or so he tried to make himself believe in as at the end of the day, he still got up from his warm yellow colored bedding, as lazily and messily as he could, and went to the bathroom to get ready. Just in case his soulmate decides to magically show up today in front of him...

Hours went by one after another without a slight break. Even though Kenma woke up at 10A.M. today, it still felt like he had no time to spare. First, he needed to make his appearance somehow appealing for tonight's little party. Then, cleaning his apartment was a must. Leaving it dirty on New Year's Eve would be disgraceful of him. Lastly, getting to Akaashi's and Bokuto's place on time. He had already promised Bokuto to be the first one to show up, so he had no choice but to do that, otherwise, he will need to deal with Akaashi's soulmate's nagging throughout the whole night for lying to him. It had already happened last year... Kenma was ready to lose his sanity, but minutes before midnight Bokuto left him alone to find Akaashi, just that they would be together when the clock hits 00:00 o'clock. Sometimes Bokuto may seem like too much to Kenma, but he was an amazing guy. He and Akaashi complimented each other very well.

So here he was: running around his apartment with wet hair from the shower he had taken seconds ago, and picking up his clothes, work supplies, etc. that were scattered all around the living room. Usually, Kenma's place wasn't that messy. He was a pretty neat person, but the workload during the holiday season always took a toll on him and made his apartment a mess. It was a habit at this point: to leave his place messy during December and only clean up before the new year began. A habit that Kenma cursed himself for every single year since he had started living alone. But habits were hard to get rid of Kenma thought to himself and sighed.

Kenma was naive for putting his hopes up to play some games after finishing cleaning. As the moment he was done with everything and even put on his picked outfit for the party, which was just his favourite oversized red sweatshirt and black cargo pants, he had to leave the apartment if he didn't want to be late. He stood still in one place for a moment and let out a deep sigh before grabbing his fully charged PSP and leaving.

The walk to his friends' house wasn't long, but the weather outside was freezing which made the whole destination seem longer. Kenma was feeling blissful for putting on his warmest coat and the big red knitted scarf that he got from Bokuto last year on Christmas. He buried his face deeper into the scarf, just so it would cover up his reddening cheeks from the cold, and continued his walk through the busy streets full of people walking from one side or another, all of them hurrying to be somewhere on time.

To say December felt like winter would be a horrendous lie. The only thing that reminded you that it was indeed winter was only the cold wind and the temperature below zero. There was no snow outside, not even a centimeter of it; to tell the truth, it hasn't even snowed here once this year. This really irked Kenma the wrong way. Snow and winter were always two inseparable things for Kenma, he only looked forward to winter just to see the shiny snow covering the ground, trees, buildings. There was something about a big white, bright sheet covering the earth that always made him feel comfortable, kind of childish, too. Ever since Akaashi and Bokuto met, which was about 6 years ago, they would force him to go outside during winter and build a snowman with them. At first, it was bothersome for Kenma, but he grew to like it which made him extremely angry that this year he hasn't been able to build a snowman with his two friends yet. Kenma was mad at the sudden weather change this December. He felt childish for being 25 years old and acting like that over some snow, but that's just how it was. The outside without snow just looked dull and awkward with all the excessive Christmas decorations.

### 

### 

"Kenma! You are really here!" Bokuto let Kenma inside the apartment with a beaming smile on his face. He looked as energetic as ever, the happiness radiating out of him even made Kenma let out a genuine smile.

"Of course I did. I promised you so..." 

After putting his coat and shoes away, Kenma walked to the living room. It was always a big and wide room in their apartment, full of bright colours and darkish furniture, but today it seemed to be even bigger. Definitely because all of the unnecessary furniture was put somewhere else and only a big table with food on it was in the way. Some Christmas song was playing in the background from the TV and star-shaped lights which were hanging on the big window in the room illuminated a part of a room in a yellowish colour. This definitely set the mood for some adult celebration. Genuinely, Kenma didn't care that much about the mood, his eyes like a cat's were immediately fixated on his favourite one-snack sandwiches that were put on the table. 

"Well yeah, but last year you showed up two hours later than you promised." Bokuto followed right after Kenma to the living room, the bells on the deer horns headband that he was wearing chiming as he was walking.

"Koutarou, stop pestering our Kenma over that already." The older immediately looked at Akaashi, his soulmate, who had just walked into the same room as them from the bathroom. Bokuto chuckled adorably and went to give his lover a peck on his cheek. "Kenma, just take that sandwich before you put holes into it with your predator look." Akaashi's tone towards Kenma was soft, the care he had for his friend was the same that he had for his real family.

"I wasn't staring at it like that.." Kenma mumbled under his nose but still took the little sandwich and put it into his mouth. A rich taste took over his tongue receptors and he needed to close his eyes to show how satisfied he felt..

"Keiji, how long until the other guests show up?" Bokuto asked impatiently looking at his wristwatch ever so often. If there is one thing that Bokuto loved the most besides being with Akaashi, was spending time with his friends, people he cared about. Gatherings like these always made him excited, Kenma didn't understand what all of this excitement was for, but in Akaashi's eyes, it was endearing. 

"Probably another good 5-10 minutes, love." While putting the last snacks on the table, Akaashi answered with a loving smile on his face. Kenma couldn't help but let out a mumbled snort which achieved him a 'what are you laughing about?' look from his high school friend.

"Look at you, wearing matching hoodies with your soulmate, exchanging kisses and all the sweet talk." Kenma leaned onto his hand, trying to sound all snarky and disgusted of his friend's behaviour, even acting as if he was gagging. Some might think that he was being rude, but those who knew Kenma understood that all these remarks coming from him are only playful. Akaashi knew that.

"You wish that was you, huh?" Akaashi replied in the same snarky manner as his friend. Kenma didn't have a comeback for that. He pouted and took another sandwich from the plate, to eat his sorrow away.

"Shut up..."

As Akaashi said, the guests started coming after ten more minutes. Some came alone, some in groups, though, all that Kenma noticed was the never-ending ringing of the doorbell. His friends without a break were welcoming their friends and helping them to get comfortable. Everyone was catching up with each other's lives, asking about their jobs, families, future plans and all that. Only Kenma was sitting alone in his favourite corner near the heater and contemplating whether he should take out his PSP now or wait a bit more. It's not like someone was going to come up to him and start a conversation. No one knew him nor did he knew anyone. The urge to play his favourite game was big, but for the sake of his two friends, he decided to wait and stood up from his seat to grab something to eat.

Bokuto and Akaashi held the New Year's Eve party/gathering ever since they met. At first, it was only the three of them, but the number of people gradually got bigger every year. Even now there were at least 3-5 new faces that Kenma didn't recognize. Both of their professions and circumstances brought a lot of connections their way which turned into genuine friendships later on. Yet no matter how many friends they had, they never forgot him. Which Kenma was grateful for. Even though he wasn't a fan of big gatherings, it was still nice to be invited to them. It made him feel important. And Akaashi with Bokuto were also happy that Kenma showed up every time regardless of the circumstances.

The evening was going smoothly, everyone was having fun with each other and the never-ending laughter echoed in the room full of people. Even Kenma managed to have some fun with strangers all around him, with some of them he even held a small conversation which wasn't all bad. But Kenma's social energy was slowly decreasing, that's just something he couldn't control. Before hiding himself in a quiet room though, he decided to take another flute of his favourite champagne, which will definitely be the last one of this year. Akaashi always bought the best champagne that appealed to Kenma's taste.

"Oi! Kenma! Come here!" Just as he was about to leave to the apartment's bedroom, Bokuto caught his attention and mimicked him to come his way. Which he, of course, did." I want to introduce you to someone, wait here for a bit."

That's all he told Kenma before leaving him alone near the huge window in the living room that gave you a full view of the street they were living in. To be honest, Kenma had no desire to meet someone new right now; without him noticing his mouth formed a pout that just screamed: 'I'm so disappointed I wasn't able to escape to the bedroom sooner'. But it was what it was. He wasn't mean enough to escape while Bokuto was away, so he just looked at the view through the window in hopes to see something interesting. Whatsoever there was still no snow outside which completely killed Kenma's mood. If there is no snow then why winter even bothered to come...

"Kenma! We are back!" Bokuto's joyful voice gave Kenma the cue to turn around. "Meet Kuroo Tetsurou. I felt like you two could get along, so I had to introduce you to each other."

This time Kenma moved his eyes to the guy near Bokuto. For a few seconds, he stayed still, observing the taller man in front of him. His pitch-black jeans that were matching with a white short-sleeved t-shirt. The confident pose he stood in with his feet apart and his hands tucked inside the pockets of his jeans. The toned arms. The sly smile on his face, weirdly up and down shaped black hair that somehow managed to look good on him and the small brown but gorgeous eyes that were intensively staring into Kenma's big cat-like golden eyes. Kenma felt himself gulp before managing to answer.

"I'm Kozume Kenma," he said softly, almost inaudibly "but just Kenma is fine. It doesn't bother me."

Kuroo's eyes were still glued onto Kenma's when he smiled in the most beautiful and softest way that Kenma has ever seen anyone smile. A ticklish feeling took over Kenma's belly as everyone around him disappeared. Only Kuroo was visible.

"Well then, nice to meet you, Kenma." Reasonably, you would expect a guy like Kuroo to have a deep low voice, but a silvery-like voice took Kenma by surprise. It was a pleasant sound to his ears, making his heart skip a beat.

"Mhm." He was panicking

Kenma showed a gentle smile before excusing himself to the bathroom as he felt way too flustered to stay in the same place as the guy. While being in a rush, he slightly stumbled on his feet which caused him to hit his head into Kuroo's left arm. That was... Embarrassing, to say the least. As soon as he stood firmly on his feet again, he sprinted to the bathroom. Fortunately, it was empty, so as soon as he got inside, he locked the door and plop on the ground. Out of curiosity, Kenma touched his cheeks with his hands only to feel how heated they were, a grunt left his lips. What was the reason for his such behaviour? He acted as if he was a middle schooler in love. How frustrating. There was no way he could face him again, at least not today.

A good hour passed until someone knocked on the bathroom door. By then, Kenma had already managed to calm down and was in the middle of playing a game on his PSP. At first, he thought of ignoring the knock, but he quickly changed his mind in case someone had already got so drunk that they needed to puke, no way was he letting someone puke on his friends' bathroom doors, so he left. 

Now, his biggest concern was the Kuroo guy.

He slowly walked away from the bathroom door and looked around the living room. Nothing much changed: people were still talking, eating or drinking, even dancing. Actually, Kenma's eyes caught a glimpse of Akaashi and Bokuto happily dancing on the 'dance floor' which made the tips of his lips rise just a bit. Thankfully, the handsome man Kenma was trying to avoid was aimlessly standing in the same spot they met, facing him backwards. That was Kenma's cue to run, and he did. All the way to the bedroom, which wasn't that far away, but it sure felt like that. The moment he closed the door behind him, Kenma needed a few minutes to catch his breath. His heart was beating like crazy from the adrenaline rush, he didn't quite get why. For now, he was just happy that his little mission was successful.

Minutes passed and Kenma finally felt at peace again. He looked at his phone to see that there was only half an hour left until midnight, the beginning of the new year. After rubbing his eyes a bit, Kenma stood up and went to his most favourite place in the whole apartment: the balcony. It wasn't big nor was it somehow special, but it gave a comforting feeling. Kenma leaned onto the handrail and closed his eyes while facing upwards. The weather outside was cold but bearable, it caressed Kenma's face in a pleasing way. Not only did the balcony gave Kenma a chance to be alone, but it also offered the best view of the New Year's fireworks. Meeting the New Year's peacefully was his kind of way.

"Hey," a silvery voice from before startled Kenma. He was so lost in his head that he let his guard down and didn't notice how another presence got close to him.

"Hi..." He answered without looking at the owner of the voice, there was no point either way as he knew exactly who that was. 

"Why are you all alone here?" Kuroo asked softly and leaned onto the same handrail as Kenma exactly one meter aside. His eyes fixated on the dark sky just that he wouldn't make Kenma any more flustered and uncomfortable.

"I like being alone," Kenma confessed truthfully, the man beside him hummed.

"Can I stay?" 

"Mhm." Once again, Kenma was being honest. That brought a smile to Kuroo's face.

A comfortable silence fell upon them. Kenma stopped playing with his fingers and looked up again as the atmosphere between them got comfortable, peaceful. It felt that right now, right here was the exact place where they both were supposed to be. Now, there were only minutes left until midnight. A soft giggle escaped Kuroo's lips which broke the silence. Kenma immediately looked at the man to see what had happened only to see a sole snowflake on his pointy nose, not long after that dozens of small snowflakes were flying around them. Finally, it was snowing. Kenma smiled and his eyes started glowing out of happiness.

"Hey, Kenma, do you know what they say about first snow?" Kuroo asked in a dreamy voice and slowly moved closer to the smaller man beside him. "They say that if you spend the first snowfall with someone, you will stay together with that person for a long time."

Suddenly, Kenma felt perplexed, was he flirting with him? But why? Shouldn't you only flirt with your soulmate? What was the point of flirting with someone who wasn't your soulmate? Was that even legal? All of the thoughts Kenma had, flew away the moment Kuroo softly nudged him and motioned him to look down. And he did. 

Kuroo's big hand was holding Kenma's smaller one. The hand size difference was unreasonable, but there was something else to notice about them. A red string was tangled all around the two hands and both ends of the string ended on their' hands pinkies', tightly tied up around them. At first, Kenma had a hard time trying to comprehend what he was seeing, but when he did... His eyes shot up to meet Kuroo's. The man in front of him had already been looking at Kenma with the most loving eyes in the universe and the sweetest smile ever. The overwhelming feeling of happiness took over Kenma's small body and he felt stray tears leaving his eyes which Kuroo ever so lovingly gently brushed away.

As the clock hit 00:00 o'clock and the fireworks, celebrating the new year, painted the sky in various colours, Kenma hid his body into Kuroo's big and safe embrace. He might have _'despised' _the whole idea of soulmates, but that didn't mean he wasn't supposed to feel happy after finding his.__

The red string of fate finally let their paths clash with each other. As it had always supposed to do. 

#### 5 years full of love later

The music playing in another room only barely reached Kenma's ears as it was slightly muted by the wall separating the two rooms. Slowly he walked across the room he was in and stopped to gaze through the glass door, which opened up to a balcony. It was snowing outside big snowflakes which made it impossible to go to the balcony with bare socks or slippers. But Kenma didn't mind staying inside.

It was New Year's Eve again, everyone once again had gathered at Akaashi's and Bokuto's place to celebrate. At this point, it became a hardcore tradition to celebrate it with them. Though the number of people coming varied every single time; sometimes there were more, sometimes there were less. But Kenma always showed up, together with Kuroo, too. 

The past five years were... Blissful, to say the least. Maybe the man on the moon really knew what he was doing with his job. Kenma and Kuroo were like two puzzle pieces that matched each other perfectly without leaving a single crack in-between them. Kuroo understood Kenma and Kenma understood Kuroo. And the things they had learned and were still learning from each other were life-changing at times. 

"Hey, kitten, why did you stray away from me, huh?" A soft voice of his lover reached Kenma's ears as Kuroo closed the door behind him and walked closer to Kenma. Upon getting closer, he embraced his lover into a hug from behind and left a quick peck on the cheek.

"Wanted to spend some time alone. With you." Kenma answered as honestly as ever. At first, when he and Kuroo had just started dating, he was very shy when it came to showing affection and sweet talk, but now he said everything that was on his mind no matter what. 

"Oh, really?" Kuroo whispered in Kenma's ear with a teasing undertone. 

"Mhm."

They stayed quiet for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company in peace. The moonlight was shining brightly in the sky and slightly illuminated both of the men in its light. Kenma buried his body deeper into Kuroo's embrace and his soulmate let out a soft giggle full of love and endearment for his little kitten.

"Remember the day we first met?" Kenma cringed remembering how he had acted that day, but still hummed in response, waiting for Kuroo to continue."You looked so pretty with your hair put in a low bun and big eyes staring at the snacks, trying your best to grab the last sandwich while avoiding touching anyone near you. The moment I saw you, I thought to myself 'If this person right here isn't my soulmate, then screw the old geezer on the moon because I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with this kitten-like person anyways.'," hearing Kuroo speak like that brought a wide, dazzling smile to his soulmate's face. "And the next thing I knew, there was a red string connecting us. Talk about luck."

Kuroo's laugh was like the sweetest melody to Kenma's ears. There was no better melody than that. 

His soulmate never failed to give him butterflies with his lovely but honest confession. While being with Kuroo, Kenma felt loved. Appreciated. Needed. Indeed, they were always meant to meet. No matter their circumstances, no matter the time or place, they were bound to end up in each other's arms.

"Kuro, I love you."

"I love you, too, Kitten."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! I hope you liked it ^^ You can give me tips for the future if you want! 
> 
> I wrote this oneshot spontaneously as the idea came to my head very randomly haha. To be honest, I'm working on a whole other Kuroken ff right now, a longer one. Hopefully things will go well and I'll be able to release in a few months! Until then I might post some random oneshots like this one.
> 
> Also, Happy New Years! I hope 2021 will be a lot better to all of you! Let's have hope!  
> If you wanna talk with me, you can follow me on twt: @Gvi_Here  
> (I'm still new here so there are few things I need to learn haha)


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